External Territories of the Russian Empire
The following is a compilation of territories that fall outside the territorial boundaries of the Russian Empire. According to the 1st article of the Organic law, the Russian Empire was one indivisible state. For this reason, all territories controlled by the Russian Empire are seen as the territorial possessions of the Tsar and as such, the Tsar holds the highest crown in all territories. Territories outside of the Russian Empire's territorial borders, are organized into namestnichestvo or viceroyalties. These territories are led by a namestnik, or viceroy selected by the Tsar to act in the Tsar's name within the territory. =Hawaii= |- | align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | National Motto: ??? |- | align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | National Anthem: N/A |- | align=center style="vertical-align: top;" colspan=2 | N/A |- |'Region' || American Continent |- |'Capital' || |- |'Official Languages' || Russian |- |'Ethnic Groups' | |- | Demonym || |- |'Government'| |- |'Historical Dates'| |- |'Geography'| |- |'Currency' || Ruble |} Hawaii (i/həˈwaɪ.iː/ or /həˈwaɪʔiː/ in English; Hawaiian: Hawaiʻi) is a namestnichestvo or Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire and is among the only namestnichestvo made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental North America, southeast of the Japanese Islands, and northeast of Australia. Due to its mid-Pacific location, Hawaii has many North American and Asian influences along with its own vibrant native culture. Hawaii has over a million permanent residents along with many visitors and Russian military personnel. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu. The Kingdom encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. The last is by far the largest and is often called "The Big Island" to avoid confusion with the Kingdom as a whole. The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania. Hawaii's coastline is approximately 750 miles (1,210 km) long. The earliest habitation supported by archaeological evidence dates to as early as 300 CE, probably by Polynesian settlers from the Marquesas, followed by a second wave of migration from Raiatea and Bora Bora in the 11th century. The first recorded European contact with the islands was in 1778 by British explorer James Cook. Polynesians from the Marquesas and possibly the Society Islands may have first populated the Hawaiian Islands between 300 and 500 CE. Some archaeologists and historians believe that an early settlement from the Marquesas and a later wave of immigrants from Tahiti, c. 1000, introduced a new line of high chiefs, the Kapu system, the practice of human sacrifice and the building of heiaus. This later immigration is detailed in folk tales about Paʻao. Other authors argue that there is no archaeological or linguistic evidence for a later influx of Tahitian settlers, and that Paʻao must be regarded as a myth. Regardless of the question of Paʻao, historians agree that the history of the islands was marked by a slow but steady growth in population and the size of the chiefdoms, which grew to encompass whole islands. Local chiefs, called aliʻi, ruled their settlements and launched wars to extend their sway and defend their communities from predatory rivals. The 1778 arrival of British explorer James Cook was Hawaii’s first documented contact with European explorers. Cook named the islands the "Sandwich Islands" in honor of his sponsor John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He published the islands' location and reported the native name as Owyhee. Cook visited the islands twice. Upon his departure during his second visit in 1779, a quarrel ensued, involving Cook's taking of temple idols and fencing as "firewood", and the taking of a ship's boat by a minor chief and his men. Cook then abducted the King of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and held him as ransom aboard his ship for the return of the boat, a tactic that had worked for Cook in Tahiti and other islands. Kalaniʻōpuʻu's supporters fought back and Cook and four Marines were killed as Cook's party retreated to the beach and launched their boats. After Cook's visit and the publication of several books relating his voyages, the Hawaiian islands received many European visitors: explorers, traders, and eventually whalers who found the islands a convenient harbor and source of supplies. Early British influence can be seen in the early design of the flag of Hawaii which had the British Union Flag in the corner. These visitors introduced diseases to the once-isolated islands and the Hawaiian population plunged precipitously because native Hawaiians had no resistance to influenza, smallpox, and measles, among others. During the 1850s, measles killed a fifth of Hawaii's people. Historical records indicated that the earliest immigration of the Chinese came from Guangdong province: a few sailors in 1778 with Captain Cook's journey, more in 1788 with Kaina, and some in 1789 with an American trader who settled in Hawaii in the late 18th century. During the 1780s and 1790s, chiefs were often fighting for power. After a series of battles that ended in 1795 and forced cession of the island of Kauaʻi in 1810, all inhabited islands were subjugated under a single ruler who became known as King Kamehameha the Great. He established the House of Kamehameha, a dynasty that ruled the kingdom until 1872. After Kamehameha II inherited the throne in 1819, American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii converted many Hawaiians to Christianity. Their influence ended many ancient practices, and Kamehameha III was the first Christian king. One prominent Protestant missionary, Hiram Bingham I, was a trusted adviser to the monarchy during this period. Other missionaries and their descendants became active in commercial and political affairs, leading to future conflicts between the monarchy and its restive American subjects. Missionaries from other Christian denominations (such as Catholics, Mormons, and Episcopalians) were active, but never converted more than a minority of the Native Hawaiian population. The death of the bachelor King Kamehameha V—who did not name an heir—resulted in the popular election of Lunalilo over Kalākaua. Lunalilo died the next year, also without naming an heir. Perhaps "the People's King" (Lunalilo) wanted the people to choose his successor as they had chosen him. In 1874 the election was contested within the legislature between Kalākaua and Emma. This led to riots and the landing of U.S. and British troops, and governance passed to the House of Kalākaua. In 1887, Kalākaua was forced to sign the 1887 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, which stripped the king of much of his authority. There was a property qualification for voting, which disenfranchised most Hawaiians and immigrant laborers, and favored the wealthier white community. Resident whites were allowed to vote, but resident Asians were excluded. Because the 1887 Constitution was signed under threat of violence, it is known as the "Bayonet Constitution". King Kalākaua, reduced to a figurehead, reigned until his death in 1891. His sister, Liliʻuokalani, succeeded him on the throne. In 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani announced plans for a new constitution. On January 14, 1893, a group of mostly Euro-American business leaders and residents formed a Committee of Safety to overthrow the Kingdom and seek annexation by the United States. United States Government Minister John L. Stevens, responding to a request from the Committee of Safety, summoned a company of U.S. Marines. As one historian noted, the presence of these troops effectively made it impossible for the monarchy to protect itself. In January 1893, Queen Liliʻuokalani was overthrown and replaced by a Provisional Government composed of members of the Committee of Safety. Controversy filled the following years as the queen tried to re-establish her throne. The administration of President Grover Cleveland commissioned the Blount Report, which concluded that the removal of Liliʻuokalani was illegal. The U.S. government first demanded that Queen Liliʻuokalani be reinstated, but the Provisional Government refused. Congress followed with another investigation, and submitted the Morgan Report on February 26, 1894, which found all parties (including Minister Stevens) with the exception of the queen "not guilty" from any responsibility for the overthrow. The accuracy and impartiality of both the Blount and Morgan reports has been questioned by partisans on both sides of the debate over the events of 1893. The Provisional Government of Hawaii ended on July 4, 1894, replaced by the Republic of Hawaii. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii in 1885 as contract laborers for the sugar cane and pineapple plantations. Puerto Rican immigration to Hawaii began when Puerto Rico's sugar industry was devastated by two hurricanes in 1899. The devastation caused a world-wide shortage of sugar and a huge demand for the product from Hawaii. Hawaiian sugar plantation owners began to recruit the jobless, but experienced, laborers in Puerto Rico. Two distinct waves of Korean immigration to Hawaii have occurred in the last century. The first arrived in between 1903 and 1924; the second wave began in 1965. After William McKinley won the presidential election in 1896, Hawaii's annexation to the U.S. was again discussed. The previous president, Grover Cleveland, was a friend of Queen Liliʻuokalani. McKinley was open to persuasion by U.S. expansionists and by annexationists from Hawaii. He met with three annexationists from Hawaii: Lorrin Thurston, Francis March Hatch and William Ansel Kinney. After negotiations, in June 1897, Secretary of State John Sherman agreed to a treaty of annexation with these representatives of the Republic of Hawaii. The treaty was never ratified by the U.S. Senate. Instead, despite the opposition of a majority of Native Hawaiians, the Newlands Resolution was used to annex the Republic to the United States and it became the Territory of Hawaii. The Newlands Resolution was passed by the House June 15, 1898, by a vote of 209 to 91, and by the Senate on July 6, 1898, by a vote of 42 to 21. In 1900, Hawaii was granted self-governance and retained ʻIolani Palace as the territorial capitol building. Despite several attempts to become a state, Hawaii remained a territory for sixty years. Plantation owners and key capitalists, who maintained control through financial institutions, or "factors", known as the "Big Five", found territorial status convenient, enabling them to continue importing cheap foreign labor; such immigration was prohibited in various states. Eventually the Hawaiian islands would officially become a state of the United States, remaining as such for some time until the fall of the United States, in 2001. Following the fall of the United States, the island remained isolated and independent from any of the regional powers that developed after the United States. For a short time it was incorporated as a colonial possession of flumes but for the most part the island remain independent until the annexation of the islands by the Confederate States of America and the Native American Nations. The Confederate States were the first to arrive on the islands, taking the island of Oʻahu as a protectorate and regional territory under the administration of Atlanta. The rest of the islands in the chain came under the administration of the Native American Nations and for a while tension relations in this particular region of the Americas persisted. At one point even military conflict erupted between the islands as war between the Confederate States and the Native American Nations erupted. Eventually, however, it would be a different war that would lead the islands until a different administration. War between the Confederates States of America and the Russian Empire would erupt as part of a larger international conflict. The results of this conflict would turn over the whole of the Hawaiian islands to the control of the Russian Empire. Tsar Alexei II would declare the islands, the Kingdom of Hawaii and would incorporate the islands into a namestnichestvo or viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with Tsar Alexei II claiming the title of King of Hawaii and appointing a namestnik to lead the islands in the name of the Tsar. Since its incorporation into the Russian Empire, the Hawaiian islands has seen a huge influx of Russian citizens, with almost the entire population of white Americans being forcibly removed from the island by Russian forces. Hawaii’s diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of public beaches and oceanic surrounding, and active volcanoes have made it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists alike. Many Russian nobles have take up holiday homes on the island as the Russian Tsar himself has worked to create a populous Hawaiian nobility. Today, the Hawaiian islands serves the Russian Empire as the location and home of its pacific fleet as well as a contingent of its land forces in the Americas. Namestnik (Executive) The Namestnik or Viceroy is the appointed executive head of any namestnichestvo Russian. Appointed by the Tsar, it is more often than not that the Namestnik is appointed from the Russian nobility. In fact, the appointee is sometimes the Tsar's own heir when possible, given that the position allows the Tsar to further mold the heir into a proper individual ready to rule the Russian Empire. Each Krais has its own unique charter, drafted by the government in Moscow, that clearly outlines and defines the level of autonomy with which each namestnichestvo may operate and in practice, almost all charters are virtually the same. Thus all namestnichestvos operate under the same level of autonomy, allowing them virtually unlimited independence save for them being sworn to the service of the Russian Tsar and the Russian Empire. The most important duty of the Namestnik is that they are the Imperial representative of the Tsar within his or her territory. It is their solemn duty to serve the Tsar and to exert the will of the Tsar to their utmost ability. The Namestnik of the executive head of the government and their main obligations are to uphold Imperial law, represent the Empire in diplomacy between their territory and other nations, and to exert the will and wishes of Tsar and Moscow in their respective territory. The Namestnik, as granted in the namestnichestvo's Charter, also has the power to determinw the domestic policies, resolve problems at the local level, and the power to grant pardons. Central Ministries Though the executive powers of the Krais are reserved to the Namestnik by the Charter, the broadest use of this executive power is exercised through the various departments of the Central Ministries. The Central Ministries act as an advisory board to the Namestnik, keeping him informed of all pertinent information on the Krais. Formed by appointment from the majority party of the Krias Duma, the Central Ministries along with the Namestnik form the government of the Krais. The Ministries are overseen by the Premier who is also seen as the direct representative of the people to the Namestnik. Ministers of the Central Ministries *Ministry of Treasury *Ministry of Energy *Ministry of Interiors *Ministry of Commerce/Labor *Ministry of Health and Human Services *Ministry of Housing and Urban Services *Ministry of Transportation *Ministry of Education The Supreme Court (Judicial Branch) The Supreme Court is the highest court within a Russian West Indies Krais. Though the supreme judiciary authority in the Krais, the Supreme Court is still subordinate to the Imperial Supreme Court of the Russian Empire. Judges to the Supreme Court of the Russian West Indies Krais are assigned by the Presiding Council of Judges of the Collegium of Judges of the Russian Empire. Though it is not required by law, the Presiding Council will often try to assign judges who are natives to the Krais to the courts. However, given that there is now guarantee that a native exists within the Collegium of Judges, this is not always the case. From among the three Judges assigned to the Supreme Court, one will be appointed as the Chief Justice while the other shall take the position of Associate Chief Justice. All decisions made by the Supreme Court are binding to all of the Krais and can only be overturn by a decision from the Tsar, Namestnik, or Imperial Supreme Court. Economy The history of Hawaii can be traced through a succession of dominant industries: sandalwood, whaling, sugarcane, pineapple, military, tourism, and education. Since becoming a territory of the Russian Empire, tourism has been the largest industry, despite efforts to diversify. Hawaiian exports include food and apparel. These industries play a small role in the Hawaiian economy, however, due to the considerable shipping distance to viable markets, such as Russia's main markets in Europe. Food exports include coffee, macadamia nuts, pineapple, livestock, and sugarcane. Hawaii has a relatively high state tax burden however, millions of tourists contribute to the tax take by paying the general excise tax and hotel room tax; thus not all taxes come directly from residents. Transportation A system of highways encircles each main island. Travel can be slow due to narrow winding roads, and congestion in cities. Each major island has a public bus system. Honolulu International Airport is the major commercial aviation hub of Hawaii, with intercontinental services to Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Oceania. Within Hawaii a small variety of airlines use jets between the larger airports in Honolulu, Līhuʻe, Kahului, Kona and Hilo, while several helicopter services serve smaller airports. These airlines also provide air freight service between the islands. Currently there is passenger ferry service in Maui County between Moloka'i and Maui, and between Lana'i and Maui, though neither of these takes vehicles. A Russian Cruise Lines also provides passenger cruise ship service between the islands. Hawaii has a network of railroads on each of the larger islands that helps move farm commodities as well as passengers. These railroads are all narrow gauge (3 ft (914 mm) gauge for the majority although there are some 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge on some of the smaller islands. The largest by far is the multiple lines from Honolulu across the western and northern part of Oahu. Traffic on these line are busy enough that there are signals on the lines facilitating movement of trains and wigwag signals at some railroad crossings for the protection of motorists. Languages Hawaii has two main languages: Russian and Hawaiian. Through the laws of the Russian Empire, the official language of Hawaii is Russian. Russian is used both in the government as well as in business. It is the main language used and taught in schools. The second largest of the languages is the local Hawaiian and is the native language of many born-and-raised residents and is a second language for many other residents. In addition to the two major languages, there are several minority languages spoken throughout the islands which include: Chinese, Korean, Samoan, Japanese, Ilokano, Spanish, German, Portuguese and French. The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian member of the Austronesian language family. It is closely related to other Polynesian languages, such as Marquesan, Tahitian, Māori, Rapa Nui (the language of Easter Island), and less closely to Samoan, and Tongan. According to some historians, the Marquesans colonized the archipelago in roughly 300 AD followed by later waves of immigration from the Society Islands and Samoa-Tonga. Those Polynesians remained in the islands, thereby becoming the Hawaiian people. Their languages, over time, became the Hawaiian language. Before the arrival of Captain James Cook, the Hawaiian language had no written form. That form was developed mainly by American Protestant missionaries during 1820–1826. They assigned letters from the Latin alphabet that corresponded to the Hawaiian sounds. Hawaiian distinguishes between long and short vowels. In modern practice, vowel length is indicated with a macron (kahakō). Also, Hawaiian uses the glottal stop as a consonant (ʻokina). It is written as a symbol similar to the apostrophe or opening single quote. Hawaiian-language newspapers and traditional native speakers of Hawaiian generally omit the marks in their own writing. The ʻokina and kahakō are intended to help non-native speakers. Religion Since the Russians took control of the islands, the largest denomination by number of adherents is the Russian Orthodox Church. The major religious groups within the Hawaiian islands is Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism. Several minor religious groups include: Bahá'í Faith, Confucianism, Daoism, the Hawaiian religion, Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Shintoism, and Zoroastrianism. Category:The Russian Empire